Background

Platform Partners was founded with the goal of creating a leading regional investment company whose objective and investment style was differentiated from more traditional private equity firms.

Prior to forming Platform, the Principals worked together at a traditional private equity firm. We believed then, as we do now, that combining the benefits of private capital with a very long-term focus can positively impact management teams and the companies they lead. As a result, we formed Platform with a few core philosophies.

First, Platform has an unlimited investment horizon with no arbitrary timeframe to exit investments. We believe that the best time to sell a healthy, growing company is never. This core conviction led us to structure the capital we manage as a perpetual investment company with a permanent capital base. Our strategy does not mean we will never sell a company. However, we manage investments as if we will own them forever. We and our management partners can then afford to make long-term investments in the business without concerns about exit timing.

We also decided we wanted to concentrate our time and capital in a smaller number of companies. We believe that we can add more value to management teams and portfolio companies by focusing our efforts as opposed to simply showing up for quarterly board meetings. We try to find attractive, long-term investments and we operate with a “buy & hold” perspective. With this strategy, we actively work with our portfolio companies to create industry leading, valuable enterprises over the long-term.

In order to achieve our objectives, we sought an investor group that shared our patient approach to building long-term value. Investors include family offices, successful executives and select institutions, many of whom have a history of investing with us that, in many cases, dates back over 30 years. We consider our investor base to be one of our greatest assets and rely on them for guidance, industry expertise and investment referrals.